Ethan A. Huff, staff wroter

May 8, 2016

(NaturalNews) It is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate grocery store aisles and identify products that are truly natural and organic. Even at many popular health food stores and grocery chains, brands are tacking on the word "natural" to their products, even when they contain conventional agrichemical residues, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), hexane solvent residues, and various other harmful ingredients.

NaturalNews has been reporting on the Cornucopia Institute's (CI) release of a report entitled Cereal Crimes: How "Natural" Claims Deceive Consumers and Undermine the Organic Label -- A Look Down the Cereal and Granola Aisle. In this report, CI explains that many popular "natural" brands, some of whom used to sell mostly or strictly organic foods, are preying on the consumers desire for wholesome, healthy foods by marketing conventional foods as "natural" -- and they are actually selling these products at a premium price!

CI has created an Organic Cereal Scorecard by which consumers can evaluate various "natural" and organic brands to determine which ones are legitimate, and which ones are not. You are sure to be shocked (as we also were) to learn that many popular brands of cereal and granola marketed as healthy and "natural" are loaded with GMOs and various agriculture chemical residues. These brands received the lowest ratings and overall scores by CI for failing to live up their "natural" marketing hype.

Be sure to read the details for each brand's rating by clicking its associated link, which has been provided above.

It is no surprise to see the usual suspects like Post and General Mills in the worst overall category. But many readers may be shocked to learn that brands like Mom's Best, Udi's Granola, Bear Naked, and Kashi -- all of these "natural" brands are marketed as superior to conventional varieties, and are sold at a premium price -- are also included.

But it gets worse. Several other popular "natural" brands including Barbara's Bakery, Peace Cereal, and Back to Nature, scored in the second-to-worst category, as many of the products sold under these brand names are not only conventional rather than organic, but some even contain up to 50 percent GMO ingredients.

You can read more about the worst and best brands of cereal and granola in the CI report Cereal Crimes: How "Natural" Claims Deceive Consumers and Undermine the Organic Label -- A Look Down the Cereal and Granola Aisle: